The present invention refers to a machine for balancing vehicle wheels.
To this end, known balancing machines are usually equipped with a pair of mechanical feelers which can be positioned adjacent both ring-shaped flanges so their positions can be detected.
Alternatively, it is common practice to replace the two feelers with a contact-less measuring sensor (laser, ultrasound or the like), fitted with a movement and orientation device, so it can be aimed at the tire and at the rim so the position of the ring-shaped flanges can be detected without having to remove/fit the tire from/on the wheel rim.
Other types of balancing machines are equipped with a contact-less sensor alongside the wheel tread which normally detects any unevenness on the tire. However, if this type of sensor is required to detect the position of the ring-shaped flanges on the wheel rim, the tire has to be removed from the wheel so the rim can be inspected correctly.
The balancing machines of the type known are susceptible to additional improvement aimed at achieving greater simplicity from a structural point of view plus increasing flexibility and efficiency of use from an operational point of view.
As a matter of fact, a pair of feelers and/or a sensor movement/orientation device can often complicate considerably the working of traditional balancing machines.
The fact that the tire has to be taken off or removed, and then put back on the wheel is an additional, and inconvenient operation, that is not always easy or practical to perform.